A Heated Adventure
by E.H.Kensington
Summary: Anna, Elsa and Kristoff embark on an adventure to see creatures from a land far away.
1. Chapter 1

Anna walked down the richly decorated hall, humming to herself and wondering how she'd never seen the immense beauty of the palace. _Oh that's right, every window in this place was shut! _She stopped to glance up at a particularly large painting of a desert with the remnants of a village in the middle. A gold frame encased the picture of the village, Rocks and cactus littered the small town that stood before her, with only support beams and a singular well in the middle of it all. _I wonder where they all went, why they left, _Anna thought as she stared.

A single word was engraved at the bottom of the frame on a gilded plaque. **_Fire._**Anna felt the cold seep back into her, forgotten while looking at the painting, she took her eyes away and started off down the hall towards the library, hoping there would be a fire in there. Since Elsa came back from her escapade, Anna had taken to spending as much time with her as possible, building more snowmen, named Jaximus, Peter and Sam, Ice skating nearly every day and had moved her bed into Elsa's room as soon as she could. Elsa was a queen however, so Anna enjoyed the little time she spent with her sister as much as she could.

Kristoff, on the other hand, was often out living up to his name as the royal ice deliverer, not staying in the castle longer than two days at a time, he was often out gathering ice, leaving Anna alone in the castle with nothing else to do but be bored, again.

_I wonder what Elsa's up to? _Anna continued her journey through the massive palace until she came to her sister's chambers. The door was decorated with intricate carvings of snowflakes and a pattern of ice cracking. The door reminded Anna of Elsa's ice castle, up on the north mountain.

Anna knocked on the door with quick, staccato bursts, a tune like rhythm.

"Elsa?" Anna said tentatively.

"Anna? Come in!" came Elsa's voice, calm and sisterly.

Anna opened the door to find her sister sitting at her desk reading a book. For once, she wasn't hunched over some paperwork, or treating with some foreign emissary. The office was large, even for the palace, one wall was covered with books, another with more paintings, a hearth below them, Anna's desk was at the back, with a window behind her piled high with books of different colours, ink pots and many loose papers, Anna wondered how she knew where everything was. Anna's eyes immediately went to the roaring fire in Elsa's hearth, crackling with a faint 'pop' every few seconds. She strode over to it, stretching her hands towards it with an eagerness to get them warm.

Elsa was wearing a green woollen dress with her hair in her signature braid that fell easily over her shoulder onto her chest. Anna always liked her braid, even when they were children. It was her favourite thing about her. Anna's eyes wandered down to Elsa's chest and noticed how exposed it was in that dress, a relatively new fashion that Anna wasn't sure she liked. _Elsa is actually really …nice looking? I wonder if she thinks I'm nice looking, should I ask - _

_"_Anna?" Elsa said, interrupting Anna's train of thought.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sorry, I was thinking about how nice you look today. Not to imply that you don't look nice all the time, you just look especially nice today, but you do look nice all the time-"

"Anna, relax, I understand" Elsa said with a smile.

"Okay, good." Anna said. "Sorry, I'm just really bored, with you always doing some 'queen' business, and Kristoff always getting Ice for you, it just feels like it's going back to the way it was before"

Elsa sighed. "I'm sorry Anna, it's just I'm a queen now! I need to see different countries, treat with them, learn about them, deal with petitioners, I can't be a little girl anymore."

"Could you take a break, maybe?" Anna said, sitting down in the chair across from her sister. "You know, do something fun for once, with Kristoff and me? I can convince him to take a break"

"Well I did have an idea, for later on, once everything is settled with new trade routes and Alliances with new kingdoms." Elsa said with a sly smile on her face.

"Oh really?!" Anna jumped in her chair, "What is it, is it fun? Will we all enjoy it? Where is it? Is it far? Tellmetellmetellme!"

Elsa closed the book she was reading and handed it to Anna.

Anna took the book and looked at the cover. There were words that Anna couldn't work out due to the runic language they were written in.

"I don't understand, what is this?" Anna asked in wonder.

Elsa smiled and took the book back, opening to a page with a picture of a silhouetted lizard with fire surrounding it to show Anna.

"We're going to go see Dragons"


	2. Exited!

_Dragons?_

"Dragons?!" Anna exclaimed, voice raised with excitement.

"Yes, dragons, Anna." Elsa said standing up. "I've always liked dragons. They've intrigued me for most of my life, always stuck in my room, I dreamt of nothing but riding one, one day. I actually have quite the collection of books up in my room, did you see them?"

Anna thought back to the time she'd spent in Elsa's room. "Nope! I don't really like books, too slow, too boring! I like to do things. Run and jump and skip and reach for the sky!" Anna was waving her hands about, miming all the actions.

Elsa laughed at her sister's giddiness and waved a hand of dismissal. "We'll get plenty of chances to do that soon enough, when we go out to find one." Her hands were idly brushing the spine of the book while she was looking at her sister.

"You and Kristoff have quite the amount of research to do, though, finding and approaching dragons is nothing short of a miracle, according to Kimberly Waxernos"

"Who's Kimberly Waxernos?" Anna asked.

"An extremely famous dragon tamer who had lived with the dragons most of her life." Elsa said with a longing voice. "She abandoned her family when she was 16 to go and live with the dragons, coming back at the age of 77 to recount her tales of dragons to her family before she died not a day later"

"Um, Elsa, Hello!" Anna snapped her fingers in front of Elsa's face. "I'm not going to lose _you_ to them am I? I don't think I can deal with a family of dragons all around me every time I want to see you!"

Elsa chuckled "No, no, I just want to meet one. That's all. According to Waxernos, living with dragons is like waking up in a furnace every day, and going to sleep on a bed of hot coals every night. I don't think that would be my favourite place to live"

"Woah! Brutal! I don't like the cold but I wouldn't want it to be that hot!" Anna sat up in her chair a little straighter.

"What's going to happen to you? Will your magic work around them? What if they burn us, what if they eat us?" Anna gasped. "I don't want to be eaten Elsa!"

"Don't worry!" Elsa said hastily to calm her sister down. "Dragons are known to be mostly peaceful creatures. It differs from region to region though. Kimberly Waxeros's dragons lived not too far from here, a few months travel at most, I have a map somewhere, here, let me find it"

Elsa turned to move to her bookshelf while Anna stood up to wonder around the room, looking idly at the paintings and occasionally glancing back to look at Elsa stretching up on her toes to look through books. Anna found herself continually being distracted by Elsa's figure. _How the hell did she keep that body, locked in her room all the time? _

"Hey Elsa?" Anna said quietly

"Yeah?" Elsa replied, turning her head around.

"Don't worry about the map, we'll go over all of this with Kristoff when he gets back from his job! He's going pretty far this time, said he would be gone for at least a week" Anna said, with a slightly forlorn look upon her face.

Elsa noticed the sadness that had come over her sister so quickly.

"He'll be back soon enough, why don't we go ice skating for the moment?"

"Ooh what an excellent idea" Said Anna, instantly changing her scowl for a smile. "Race you to the pond!"

Anna opened the door and dashed out, closing it quickly behind her.

_I'll beat her this time! _

Anna was racing down the hall when she heard the door she closed, open with a bang as it hit the wall.

"Come back here you witch!" Elsa shouted, laughing as she ran.

Anna giggled as she slid down the spiral banister with the practice of doing it a hundred times before.

Elsa laughed as she made a slide down the stairs and caught up with Anna. At the bottom of the stairs, the pair of sisters looked at each other and took off again, hell bent on reaching the pond before the other.

* * *

A week later, Kristoff came back, with a load of ice that "was the best stuff he could find". _Not better than my sisters you jerk! _Anna was surprised at her own jealously at her sisters ice, but embraced him and welcomed him back as loving as she ever could.

Lying in bed together, Kristoff and Anna started talking about Elsa's plan.

"We're _what?!" _exclaimed Kristoff with a shout.

"Going to find some dragons" said Anna as coolly as if she had said his omelette was getting cold.

"Is your sister okay with this?" Kristoff asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

"It was her idea. I said I was getting bored, and she suggested this, what could be more fun?"

"It does sound like quite an adventure, but couldn't you do normal things? Like draw or read?"

"No way! I want to go see dragons!" Anna said with a commanding tone. "And you're coming with us, and that's final."

Kristoff hesitated. "What do you know about dragons? Do you know what they eat?"

"Meat, only cooked by dragonfire"

"How big do they get?"

"As big as houses"

"Do they have names?"

"Yeah one of them is called John!" Anna said, poking her tongue out. "Look, don't worry. I was waiting until you got back so we could go and study them like Elsa wanted! She's got a thousand books in her room about them, and then we'll be more prepared than ever! I might even keep on as a pet! A girl named Kimberly Westers lived with them her whole life!"

"Okay, alright, look, we'll talk to Elsa in the morning, and go on from there. And nobody is living with any dragons!" Kristoff said with a sigh. Putting out the candle on his nightstand, he lay back and chuckled to himself.

"Dragons!"


	3. Getting Ready

They surrounded her on all sides. Massive black and red monstrosities with only one idea in their head. _**Kill. **_Anna backed away slowly, the wall of the cave behind her getting closer each step she took. The dragons growled and their mouths dripped liquid fire each time she made a move. Each sound she made seemed to only make them angrier; and in turn she backed away further and quicker until all too soon she hit the wall with a grunt.

"Anna!" Someone in the distance cried out with a desperation in their voice.

_Who could that be? I came here alone_. _Nobody else should be here; I didn't want to put anyone else in danger_. Her thoughts were cut off as the massive claw of a dragon was slammed down in front of her, making her whole world shake.

"Anna!" The voice came again, closer and dripping with fear.

The dragon directly in front of the small girl looked back to where the voice was coming from and snorted in annoyance. Turning back to face Anna, she shielded herself from the fire that was going to come and waited. Instead of fire, a large splash of water hit her in the face.

Anna's eyes fluttered open and saw Kristoff's face looking down at her. _It was only a nightmare_ she thought with relief. _It was only a dream_.

"Anna! It was a nightmare! You were sleeping!" Kristoff exclaimed when he saw the girl in his arms was conscious.

"It was a dream?" Anna said slowly, still groggy from sleep. "It was only a nightmare? It seemed so real.."

"What the heck were you dreaming about? One minute you're mumbling happily to someone, the next you're screaming 'no!' about 50 times. What happened Anna?"

"I dreamt about …. Dragons. They were all around me, they wanted to kill me, you were there, but you got away, I think" Anna said, trembling.

"You're nervous about tomorrow." Kristoff said with a stiff tone, placing Anna's upper body back onto the bed and out of his arms.

Anna sat up; leaning against the pillows. "No! I'm not! Well, I am, but we're still going, it was just a nightmare!"

Kristoff sighed. "Well are you sure you're okay?"

Anna gave a small smile and replied "Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit shaken up."

"We're going to talk to Elsa soon; whenever you're ready we'll head up to the palace." Kristoff said. "I'm going to go chop some firewood; we've gone none left at all."

Anna nodded and grabbed the covers off, getting out of the bed. Sliding her feet into her morning slippers she looked at the dawn through her window. The red and yellows of the new day never failed to amaze her. _Today might be the t__he last day I'll spend in Arendelle. Maybe forever. _Anna stood up and strode to the fire to warm her hands. It was painfully low but the embers from last nights fire still burned. The door opened and shut as Kristoff exited the small cottage they lived in and a cold breeze blew in, making her shiver at the unexpected blast of cold. Anna noticed the songs of a hundred different birds singing to each other in the early morning. Her world was so much quieter since Kristoff and she had moved from the castle. There was no jostling of servants or horses in the yards. No boys training with swords or people calling to sell their wares in the town square, only peace and quiet.

Anna looked around their small cottage and realised what a mess it was in. _Elsa would be proud_. It had been 3 weeks since Kristoff and Anna had talked to Elsa together about the dragon expedition. Elsa had lent them hundreds of books, scrolls and texts related to dragons, ones that she had studied hundreds of times before, and told them to research as much as they could about dragons. Anna and Kristoff had taken to staying up late nights and learning as much as there could be to learn about the mysterious creatures. Anna could tell the difference between the Great Eastern Ridgeback's dung and the Cavernous Mouse dung, how to approach them, what food you should leave as tribute, and what different dragon's favorite sounds were. Some were the trumpet, and some were the flute. Elsa had guessed that due to where they're going, the dragons they would be facing would be facing would be a sub species of the Valyrian Dread; A fierce but just dragon, according to some texts, they preferred the silver stringed harp to any other sound, so Elsa had easily picked one up and begun to learn it, much to the pleasure of the serving staff. There were books strewn _everywhere _in the modest cottage. Loose scraps of paper and parchment covered both desk and floor, left and forgotten where they fell out of the multitudes of old dusty books taken from the palace library or blown off the desk when the window or door was opened. Where paper, parchment and book were not, candles and inkpots stood in their place, covering the cottage's flat surfaces in many white and black towers, providing light or ink to the two that lived there.

Anna sighed. "Maybe I should clean this all up" she said to nobody in particular.

She thought better of the notion, knowing that it wouldn't matter as they were leaving tomorrow, and went to start her day. With the rhythmic "thump" of Kristoff's wood axe every few seconds, she got dressed in a blue dress that came down to her shins, covering her chest and short puffy sleeves to conceal her shoulders and a matching pair of blue slippers with a golden trim around the edges, she opened the door to her cottage and stepped outside.

The sun was above the horizon now, giving light to the small garden that the cottage faced. A large part of it was vegetables, with tomato plants, lettuce, potatoes, a pumpkin patch and even an orange tree in the far corner. Kristoff was right outside the door, chopping wood evenly on the stump of a tree he had felled when they had chosen the spot for their home.

Anna stood there and watched him for a while. The graceful arcs the axe head made as it sailed through the air to cleanly chop through a piece of wood mesmerized her. The veined muscles of his arms caught her eye just before he had decided to stop.

"You okay there?" Kristoff laughed as he realised she was staring.

"Hmm?" Anna breathed "Oh, yeah... Just, thinking..."

Kristoff shot her a look of knowing. "You're checking out ma guns! Aren't you!"

He lifted his arms to show her exactly what she was missing, flexing them and turning his hand back and forth. "Yeah, they're pretty good. I worked on them myself."

Anna giggled "You're so silly!"

"Ahhh, come 'ere" Kristoff growled as he pulled her into a passionate kiss. Anna gave into the kiss like butter melting on bread. Her soft lips pushing against his, Anna forgot the dream, the dragons, the cottage, the birds; everything. Kristoff was her world right now, and she never wanted it to end. A small snowflake floated down from somewhere above and landed softly upon her cheek. She barely noticed it. But eventually there were to much to ignore, gathering upon Kristoff's cheeks as well as his hair, giving him the look of dandruff plagued man who shed amazingly beautiful crystals. Kristoff opened his eyes, apparently feeling the flakes gather upon his skin, and glanced down at a white object that was at their feet. He pulled away from Anna too soon for her liking with a jump.

"Jaximus?"

"Yes sir, it is I, Jaximus!" the small, relatively muscly snowman said with a voice like boulders rumbling around in a pit.

Anna squatted down to be face to face with the snowman. He had two eyes made of buttons from Anna's sewing kit, a brown, pointy nose of carved oak, and instead of sticks for arms, he had arms made from snow, with muscles and 5 fingers on each hand. His body by contrast was short and round like his brother's. He was holding a note his hands.

Holding it up to them, he said "Queen Elsa requests you read this at once."

Anna and Kristoff shared a look before Anna took the note and unfolded it and read it.

In Elsa's perfect cursive writing, it said:

_**Come to the office on the third floor of the palace. Talk to nobody, tell nobody where you are going, will talk more there. Burn this note when finished reading it.**_

_**-E**_

Kristoff read it over Anna's shoulder and looked at the snowman who was waddling away at a surprisingly fast speed back towards the Palace, his snow cloud following in his wake. Passing through the arch at the entrance of their gardens, Anna called out.

"Is Elsa okay?

"Yes. She requested you come quickly, and that I should talk as little as possible." Jaximus replied before turning to go once more.

Anna looked at the note in her hands again, while Kristoff went back followed him inside and tossed the note into the dimming embers, waiting for it to catch alight. Watching it burn, she thought: _I hope she's okay_.

Kristoff emerged wearing a pale green shirt with red suspenders and a brown pair of breeches.

"Let's go then, shall we?" He said, smiling; looking to the palace with a look of worry on his face. And was that excitement Anna saw as well?


	4. A little bit of Trouble

"Elsa?" said the small voice. "You in here?"

Anna gave a small push to the office door, opening it easily; just enough for Kristoff and her to slip in without bumping either the door frame or the door.

Anna entered the room and slowly closed the door behind her. Hearing the latch click she let her eyes wonder around every part of the room that was visible. The open space was floored by large foreign looking rugs with exquisite designs of griffins and sphinxes in the colours of red and brown. Tapestries lined the wall, matching the floors in their own reds and browns; many of them displaying scenes of epic battles fought many years ago, some showing no more than a green tree atop a hill. Towards the back of the room a large desk, large enough for two grown men to lie down on, sat motionless, with nothing but two still lit candles and an opened inkwell to furnish it. The large window behind the still object gave an excellent view of the sea beyond, early morning sun reflecting off of the waves.

"Elsa?" Anna said again, this time louder.

Anna and Kristoff waited for a reply. None came.

_Please be okay. _

The small twitch of a corner of a large tapestry; nearly twice the size of Anna; caught her eyes, and when she began walking over to it, Kristoff caught her arm in his strong fingers and pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" He asked with a quiet voice, which was strange for Kristoff. "How do we know it's safe in here?"

Anna looked into Kristoff's brown eyes and saw worry, fear _even stranger_ and excitement tumbling about in a mixture of emotion.

"It's okay, it's safe in here" _I hope. _"I just want to check something out, relax."

Kristoff nodded and let go of her arm slowly. Anna took a few tentative steps; fear struck into her by Kristoff's unusual worry, towards the tapestry when she noticed what was sewn into it. _A palace covered in snow. What a surprise. _Anna sped up her walk and reached the tapestry in 5 long strides.

"Hiiiii Elsa" she teased, looking at the tapestry.

Anna looked back and smiled at Kristoff.

"She's in here" pointing her thumb towards the tapestry.

"She's uh, what?" Kristoff asked in confusion.

"Just... come over here already doofus!" Anna said, a wide grin stretching across her cheeks.

He strode over and looked at the tapestry with a quizzical look. He reached out to touch it, to get a feel of the magnificent cloth it was made of, and the tapestry gave in under the pressure; falling back into the wall where a large opening lay.

Anna laughed and lifted the corner of the tapestry to look behind it.

A large amount of steps led down into the darkness; above them a bricked ceiling, curving down to meet the side of the stairs. A wall scone held a lit torch about fifteen steps below, the opposite one taken by an intruder to the hidden staircase. Kristoff took the tapestry corner from Annas hand to get a better view of the staircase. Peering down into the depths, he breathed a single word.

"Wow."

"Do you think Elsa's down there?" Anna asked.

"Probably, I mean you-" Kristoff started.

"Shh!" Anna said waving her hand for silence. With a low voice she whispered "Do you hear that?"

A faint set of footsteps could be heard going down the stairwell, about 50 feet ahead of them.

Kristoff turned his head to get his ear closer to the sound.

"Footsteps?"

"Yes! It's Elsa!" Anna said with glee. Racing down the steps two at a time.

Kristoff looked back at the room they were about to leave and climbed in after Anna. "Wait up!"

Racing down into the deep darkness, they caught sight of the other torch below, illuminating a dark blue cloak, sprinkled with something shiny. Anna recognised it as one of Elsa's Ice cloaks.

"Elsa? That's you right?" Anna said as she reached her sister.

A calm, rigid voice replied. "Yes, I could have heard you two from the southern isles. Please, quiet until we get to where we're going"

_And where's that exactly? _Anna and Kristoff shared a look and followed the cloaked figure further into the depths of the palace.

_I didn't even know this place existed._

After a few minutes of silent walking they came to a large wooden door, strengthened by three bands of iron, keeping the planks in place. The planks were chipped and splintering with age, the iron rusting. A large padlock of deep grey the size of Anna's hand was fastened to a clasp that kept the door to the frame. Elsa held her outstretched hand and touched the padlock. A light click echoed through the tunnel, and the padlock opened, letting Elsa take it out and put the large item into a notch in the wall, smoothed out by the centuries of use it had seen.

"Help me with this, please" Elsa said, breaking the silence that filled the desolate tunnel.

Kristoff and Anna both hurried forward to lean against the door, pushing against it with all of their strength. _This thing is cold. And heavy! _Anna thought, instantly regretting all of that chocolate fondue she and Kristoff used in the bedroom.

With a collective grunt, the door swung open reluctantly, squeaking on the hinges.

Anna and Kristoff looked into the room that was hidden behind the old door and let out a singular in unison."Woah"

An overwhelming ice formation turned to solitary lair greeted them. Stepping from the massive doorway, they intruders noted the myriad of shimmering colours, shining through the tamed glacial ice. Above them, dirt was frozen into the structure and massive, towering pillars supporting the abode's ceiling and they were adorned with lit flames, flickering in the cold and spikes. The stalagmite like icicles that hung threatening from the dark ceiling unnerved the three. Anna's heart sank at the sight of the floor, vast and devoid of colour; a deep abyssal black. Their curiosity was snuffed as Elsa closed the towering doors behind them. As they turned with shock, Elsa sealed their exit with a thick sheet of ice.

Elsa spoke. "We can talk now. God, you two were loud enough! If you didn't realize; I didn't want to be followed here! That's why I sent the note with Jax! Why I didn't come see you! You were so loud! Anyone who walked past that door would have known you two were coming down here!"

Gob smacked, Kristoff was deaf to Elsa's complaints. Staring around the room, he walked towards the nearest pillar.

"Perfection" He muttered, stroking the pillar, voice dripping with reverence.

Anna giggled, ignoring her sister's worry, "Don't steal him from me!" giving her sister a small shove with a playful smile.

"Anna, this isn't the time for giggling! As much as I'd love to be your sister right now, I was almost killed an hour ago" Elsa said with a hollow voice.

Kristoff was drawn out of his stupor and Anna's smile fell of her face before Elsa could blink.

"What?!" The couple shouted together, the loudness drowned by the force that surrounded them. Kristoff walked toward the pair of girls, he said "How? Who? Why? Tell me and I'll kill them!"

Elsa looked at the pair, each in turn.

"What happened Elsa?" Kristoff asked with a solemn look on his face that resonated into his voice.

"Nothing that could hurt me, it was a rather weak attempt to be honest." Elsa said.

"What do you mean, weak? Has this happened before?" Anna questioned, horrified look on her face.

"A couple times, nothing serious. Being queen it's an often occurrence, but this one was different. He was holding this." Elsa said.

Elsa reached into her coat and brought out a small object wrapped in a dark brown leather cloth. She held her torch out to Kristoff.

"Hold this."

Kristoff took the burning torch from Elsa, holding it in his left hand, the other in his right.

"This," Elsa unwrapped a layer, talking as each layer was removed "Is a, dirk."

The dirk was dark steel, with red ripples running up and down it, like rivers of fire catching the light surrounding them as if it were a hungry being. An ivory handle sat at the base, carvings of rippling fire spreading down looked so real Anna wondered it would burn the wielders palm.

"I've seen it somewhere before. This steel was prominent weaponry and highly regarded in a land far away, the land we're going to." Elsa said.

"It's beautiful" Anna whispered, eyes fixated on the strange object and it's rippling lines of liquid fire. She reached out her hand to touch it, and Elsa withdrew rapidly, closing the cloth around the steel.

"It burned me to touch it, like a hot stove. I don't want to see if it happens to you Anna."

Anna eyed her sister when Kristoff spoke up.

"What do you mean? Why would it hurt her? You don't have powers Anna. Or do youuuu? Have you been holding back from me?" he said playfully, trying to lighten the mood.

"Why would I have powers? Oh, because Elsa has them? I don't think it works like that." Anna stated.

"I don't want to risk it." Elsa said with a tone that wasn't to be argued with. "Kristoff, however, might be able to touch it. That's why I brought you down here, to see if he could. That and one other reason."

"Alright, let's do this!" Kristoff said with excitement.

Elsa nodded and brought the blade forth again. Unwrapping it, her hands shook, as if she could feel the fire through the leather, and seemed to be suffering just holding it.

Kristoff extended his hand warily and placed a single finger upon the blade. Waiting for a second, nothing happened.

He smiled at the sisters and placed the second torch in his other hand. He picked it up out of the wrappings He took it and gave it a few swings. Apparently liking the feel of it, he smiled.

"I might keep this! If that's cool with you Els"

"Els?" Elsa and Anna said at the same time.

Smiling, Kristoff replied "Well, if that's cool with you too, Elsa is a bit of a mouthful"

"It's two syllables!" Elsa said indignantly.

"Yeah well, I like Els. You can call me Off! Or Kris, whichever you'd like." He said with a smile.

"Whatever, Kristoff!" Elsa replied with force on the second syllable.

"You're going to call me Anna. You're never calling me Ann ever." Anna said with a voice that sounded regal as it did deadly to Kristoff.

"Okay babe" He replied.

"Anna!"

"Anna." He relented.

"Thankyou darling!" Anna stretched her neck to give him a quick peck on the cheek, which Kristoff quickly turned into a full blown kiss. Joined together by the lips for a few seconds, Elsa's face flushed, watching the passionate display of the love the two shared.

"Erm" Elsa rubbed her arm awkwardly. "Guys?"

Kristoff broke off and they both looked at Elsa, coy smiles on their faces, Anna's face had begun to blush, bringing all of her freckles to view _It happens every time we kiss when she's around._

Elsa reached into her cloak and pulled out a worn, ragged looking leather belt with a sheath the same size as the dagger blade about a quarter way down and a belt buckle at the end of it. Handing it to Kristoff she said "This is yours, if you want the blade."

"Oh yeah!" Kristoff said excitedly, taking the belt and fastening it around his waist, sheath at the left.

"It looks good" Elsa admired how nice he looked adorned with a blade.

After a few moments of tugging at the belt to get it into the right position, he stood up, hands on his hips, looking majestic as ever.

"Elsa, you said two reasons" Anna said after she was done admiring the man. "What was the second reason?"

"Oh," Elsa said, looking away from Kristoff at Anna. "We're leaving today."


	5. A pressing experience

"Wait, what?" said Anna, incredulous.

"We're leaving, now." Elsa said.

"Hang on a minute" Kristoff said slowly, "Why aren't we leaving tomorrow? Why the rush?"

Elsa turned and began walking into the smothering blackness that was the rest of the massive cave Elsa had taken them to, beckoning them to follow.

"Everybody in the palace would have known we were leaving tomorrow," Elsa stated, turning her head to see that the pair were following "so we're leaving today"

Kristoff opened his mouth to say something, but Elsa continued on.

"I've already got your packs and clothes ready. They're awaiting us at the horses I have set up. Were you taught in how to handle a horse while growing up Anna?"

"Yeah, that's totally fine! Psh! Horses are easy!" she said with a confident laugh. "Easy peasy, I'm the best with horses."

"Okay then…" Elsa turned her head in Kristoff's direction. "Sven's there, waiting for you. We had to lure him with carrots, it wasn't easy getting him out of the stables."

Kristoff laughed again, proud of his reindeer. "Well, I trained him well!" He leant close to Anna and whispered "I didn't train him at all"

Anna giggled, but there were nagging thoughts running through her mind. _Where are we going? _"Where are we going, Elsa?" Anna asked. "Where is _there_ exactly?" _How big is this place? "_Where are we right now exactly?

Elsa turned around and began walking backwards, and grew a few inches shorter, Anna noticed.

"We're going to an old mine shaft in the woods, it's inland about 2 miles." Elsa replied, looking at Anna. "and we're just passing underneath the main town."

Turning back around, she continued, "You might be wondering what this place actually is." With a uniform yes from both Anna and Kristoff, she went on. "I began building this place about a week after the coronation. Jaximus, Marshmellow, Peter and Sam began digging after I found the door at the bottom of the stairs. It was nothing more than a hallway to the other side, but once they finished with it, it became this." Elsa finished by spreading her arms out, gesturing to the expanse of darkness that surrounded them, spotted with the massive pillars of blue, yellow and orange.

_But why? _"It's really nice, Elsa." Anna started "But why? What's the point of this huge underground ..thing, when it's just darkness and silence?"

"It's just a precautionary measure. If something ever went wrong, something ever happened to you or Kristoff, there'd be this place to hide. There's multiple entrances and exits, each leading to a different section of town. I believe I've commissioned Jax to make one to the palace on the north mountain." Elsa said.

"Oh… okay! Awesome!" Anna's last word carried through the cavern, her voice bouncing off the far walls and returning, softer each time.

"Hey!" Kristoff yelled, looking around as if the he would be able to see the voice that replied.

"Hey!" the darkness replied, again and again until it finally died.

"Cool." Kristoff murmured with a smile.

Silence and the sound of footsteps on ice followed them the rest of the journey. Out of questions, Anna retreated into her mind, following Elsa into the blackness, hoping she knew where she was going. Thinking of the impeding adventure that loomed on their doorstep, Anna was both exited and scared at the same time. _**What if one of us dies?**__ No, don't think that, it won't happen. I won't let it happen. __**The dragons in my dream though..**__ They were fake. They can't hurt you. Dragons aren't like that, I know they're not. __**What if they are though? **__Go away bad thoughts! Go away! _Anna looked over at Kristoff. The blond man was looking at every pillar they passed with awe etched on to his face.

Anna spoke, piercing the silence like a needle through cloth. "You're never going to get sick of them are you?"

Kristoff spun around to Anna and was silent for a moment before finding his voice.

"They're amazing" he said, awe dripping from his voice. "Don't you see it? How the snowflakes are perfectly carved? How the swirls and curves are perfectly cut?" Stopping, he walked over to a pillar, holding his torch as not to burn the ice. The torched reflected in the ice in a groutesque way. Curving to match the shape, it looked strangely nice and Anna could see exactly what Kristoff meant. "No nicks, no blemishes, nothing wrong at all. They are perfect in every way."

_Like you, Like Elsa. _She turned to look at her sister to notice she was blushing. Blood filled her sisters cheeks and Elsa wore a small, proud smile. Looking at Anna, she smiled. S_he's so pretty_.

"Thankyou, Kristoff. You're very nice! You'll have to teach me how to carve ice with hands one day?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah sure, maybe after this grand adventure we're about to go on, given we come back alive." He said with a dry chuckle.

"Sounds good." Elsa replied.

Anna saw something in the corner of her eye and turned her head. A massive dirt wall loomed just ahead; A small, wooden door ringed with iron that was seemingly identical to the one they entered the cavern in sat at the bottom, closed and locked.

"That's where we're going, yeah?" Anna asked as she turned back to see Elsa and Kristoff smiling at each other.

They turned their heads at Anna, and then to where she was pointing.

Elsa stood up. "Yep! Leads into the mine and then we'll be leaving from there in the morning"

Kristoff rose. "Let's go then, shall we?"

A few steps, and the trio arrived at the door. Looming ahead of them, the door seemed like more that a door to her, and it apparently affected the rest of the group too. The three stood at it, staring. _When we open this door, that's it. That's the start of this adventure. We're going to see dragons, and what happens when we do is either going to be very good, or very bad. _Elsa started forward too soon for Anna's liking and touched the lock; and with a light click, the padlock sprung open, Elsa pulled the large, grey item out of its socket, and opened the door.

* * *

The heat of the air would change often as they pressed through the old mine shaft. Going up and down passages, Anna would occasionally feel a light brush of air against her cheek, cool air from above, and then have it stolen again by the dark surroundings. The long, winding tunnels seemed to go on forever, each turn revealing yet more dimly lit passages with light bouncing off of the broken cart tracks. The dirt surrounding Anna made her feel trapped, like an ant underground with no opening at the top. Her vision was fixed on the ground in front of her feet, watching her step for the multiple broken nails, smashed lanterns and tipped mine carts that littered the floor of the tunnels. Silence followed them through the halls. Anna didn't speak for fear of the mine collapsing around them. _I don't know why the other two are so quiet though. Maybe they think the same thing? I wonder what they're thinking about? _She looked up at her sister and her fiancé to find their faces studying the ground in front of them as well. Elsa's eyes flicked back and forth, searching for anything that might trip her up; Kristoff's doing the same. He noticed Anna looking at him and raised his face to meet her eyes. Smiling his goofy smile he gave her the thumbs up. Anna smiled her warmest smile. _I love his smile so much. _Winking at her, he resumed his own vigil of searching for dangers in his path.

After a short while of walking, a light began to grow ahead of them. Anna audibly sighed in relief, and a chuckle came from Kristoff.

"Scared, Anna?" Kristoff looked up, satisfied there were no more obstacles in his path.

"No! I just don't like being underground too much!" Anna retorted.

As they got closer Anna began to make out the shapes of trees through the blinding whiteness, just beyond the border of the square at the end of the tunnel. Getting closer by the second, Anna yearned to be free of the compressing tunnels, and skipped ahead to get free before the other two.

"Anna, wait!" Elsa called out laughing.

Anna stopped to looked back to feel Elsa whipping past her.

Elsa giggled like the little girl she never was. "I'm going to beat you!"

"Oh no you don't!" Anna called back, tearing ahead, catching up to her sister easily and reaching freedom, a panting Elsa came out a few seconds later, face flushed.

"Not even close" Anna said proudly. Turning to admire what lay outside the shafts, Anna saw trees. Green and brown surrounded them on all sides. The mineshaft they had just left had been deep into a mountain behind them,apparently forgotten by it's old proprietor. Nothing marked the entrance but the small clearing that was empty directly outside the mine. Kristoff emerged from the mine blinking away the darkness.

"Well, you two are acting like proper sisters!" Kristoff said, looking at the pair.

"Well duh, that's kind of what we are!" Anna stated.

A faint rustle a small distance away brought all three to attention. Looking towards the noise, nobody moved. It got closer, getting louder with each second.

"Footsteps?" Anna whispered.

Kristoff put his fingers to his mouth a whistled. The noise instantly got faster, and within seconds, his large reindeer bounded into the clearing and pounced on Kristoff. Behind him followed a very disgruntled Olaf. Sticks and leaved were sticking in wild angles, stuck in his snow.

"Aw, isn't he cute, wanted to get back to Sven" the small snowman said, pulling leaves and debris from his snow. The snow cloud above him was periodically dropping snowflakes on him, keeping him cool and refreshed. "Didn't need to speed up and push me off though!"

"Olaf!" Elsa said, evidently surprised. "Why are you here?" Why is Sven here?"

The snowman shook himself clear of any small debris that still hung on him. "Oh, he didn't like the stables, so I let him out! Also, he wanted a carrot, so we left to find some."

"I left you with 5 bags! What happened to them?" Elsa exclaimed.

Pointing his twig arm at the reindeer that Kristoff was currently hugging, still on the floor, he said "He happened."

Elsa laughed. "Note to self, Sven _really_ likes carrots."

"Yep!" The snowman took his arm out and inspected it. Putting it back in and clenching a 'fist' he said "So shall we go?"

"Let's leave then. Kristoff!" Elsa called out.

Kristoff's laughing stopped and he looked up. "Yes?"

"We're going"

"Already?" He laughed. "Okay"

Anna looked around, looking for a road.

"There's no road." The confused girl stated."

The small snowman lifted his head and pointed it in Anna's direction. "Yes there, is, you just have to look for it!"

The snowman led them to a passage between two massive trees on the edge of the small clearing. "See?"

Between the massive, brown trees, Anna could see a small trail of packed dirt, hidden between the tall swaying bushes and leaves that littered the ground. Taking the lead, Kristoff and Sven pushed ahead, clearing the path of any large branches of animals that had decided to take their resting place on the trail.

They came across a T in the road.

"Where we're going Elsa. Is it left or right?" Kristoff asked.

"Left."


	6. We're just getting started

The small red pit smoldered in the early morning light. A faint red glow poured out of the shallow pit. The early hours of the morning had taken the roar from the fire and replaced it with a quiet heat, crackling every few seconds as if to remind Elsa it was still there. The girl sat atop a stump, idly creating and removing random ice sculptures from existence. A rabbit, a small horse, castles, anything that could keep Elsa's mind occupied while she stood, well, sat, vigil for the small group. The forest that surrounded her was dimly lit by the early morning light. She could see the faint outlines of thousands of trees that lived in the forest. The ground was littered with leaves, bushes and ferns, making traversing it and staying off the road perilously hard. They had decided to make camp a little while off the road in a clearing that had been flattened out by other campers, it seemed. There was a fire pit there already, and a path to and from the road. Anna and Kristoff slept together in a rugged fur lined sleeping bag close to the fire, not 10 steps away from Elsa. From her stump, she could see the brown mass rise and fall as the pair breathed in sync. Coupled with the constant chirp of crickets and the crackling of the fire, it was mesmerizing to her. Forgetting her icy inventions, she thought of home. Three days they had been on their journey, but it felt much longer than that. On the horses and Sven, they had traveled nearly 150 leagues from the old mine. Their horses were good, strong things; bred for long and arduous rides and were currently tied to a nearby tree.

Finally noticing how low the fire had got, she stood up to throw a few logs onto the dwindling fire. Wandering over to the pile Kristoff had chopped that evening, she shot a glance at where their mounts were. The tall, brown steeds stood with their head lowered as they slept. Behind the pair of horses was Sven, laying down with his antlers in the air. Elsa picked up the logs and moved over to the fire to toss them on, each one sending up a large plume of sparks, floating up into the air like lost spirits on the way to the next world. A deer carcass was hung in a nearby tree, skinned and hardening in the cold, morning air. Elsa eyed it with a tiny hint of disgust. The exposed flesh was a sickening sight to her. She had packed ample food for the trio to sustain them for weeks, but Kristoff had suggested they all learn to kill and properly skin game properly. Using a long bow he had purchased from Oaken, he killed the beast with an arrow to both its throat and chest. After following for about 3 hours, using the blood it left on the ground and tracks it made through the forest, they found it lying in a bush, struggling to stay alive, barely breathing and not even bothering to move when they approached. With a quick motion of his hands and knife, Kristoff put the wild beast out of its misery. They dragged the animal back to camp and Kristoff skinned it. He instructed both the sisters on where to put the knife, and where the best cuts for meat came from. Elsa had already forgotten most of it as she felt sick during it all; Kristoff's deft fingers guiding the knife through the belly of the deer made her incredibly uncomfortable, forcing her to look away for a good part of the demonstration. Anna had not been exactly happy with the display of hunting prowess by her fiancé, but watched and learned attentively at the same time.

The early morning light was brightening, a yellow glow that blended into the deep blues of the night expanded from the east horizon, announcing the arrival of the sun like a herald. Birds were chirping and Elsa could hear the movement of animals through the brush. A loud snap came from nearby, and Kristoff's head jerked up.

"Huh?" he mumbled groggily. His eyes were only half open as he turned his head to look around at the dense forest. Lifting himself to lean on his elbow, he saw Elsa sitting on the stump.

"Have you been sitting there all night?" Kristoff mumbled quietly, as not to wake Anna, who was still asleep beside him.

"Yeah, it's not too bad. I'm used to the quiet." Elsa replied.

Kristoff slid out of his makeshift bed and stood up. He put the cover back over Anna and looked at the fire, which was now burning enthusiastically once more.

Kristoff let out a big yawn and looked around, apparently searching for something. He walked over to Elsa and held out his hand.

"Where are we going?" she said, accepting the hand and standing up.

"To get some water, we ran out last night and I thought you might like to come." Kristoff said with another yawn.

Elsa noticed. "You're still tired, you should go back to sleep, I'll take care of the water."

Kristoff waved a hand in dismissal. "It's the nicest time of the day. Besides, I'm up now." He began walking towards the horses, still holding Elsa's hand. Deciding she liked it, even though she didn't know why, she left it there. They grabbed the water skins from the horses quietly, as to not wake them, and set off into the wood.

"Do you know where you're going?" Elsa whispered, looking around them. It all looked the same to her.

"Yeah, I've camped here before, I sometimes travel this way. There's a stream not too far away, good for fishing too." Kristoff stated, turning around to smile kindly at her.

Elsa thought of fishing. She had seen the commoners do it on the wharves and jetty's back at Arendelle and had always wanted to try it. "Is fishing hard?"

"Not really?" Kristoff said, more of a question than a statement. "It depends on what you're fishing for and where you are. If you're on a boat, out at sea, you use a big net and bring in hundreds at a time. I knew a few sailors who do that for a living and would buy ice from me to store their catch in, they even took me out once or twice. That way is rather easy, but if you're say, at a lake or river, it's more of a waiting game. Nothing too tricky about it, just hook your bait, cast the line out, and wait for the fish to bite."

"Sounds… interesting. We should do it sometime." Elsa said with a tingle of excitement lining her voice.

"Yeah, definitely! We don't have any rods though.." Kristoff said, disappointed.

"That's okay, we'll do it some other time." Elsa said with a smile.

The river snuck up on Elsa unawares. It was silent, as the water seemed perfectly still. The only sign that it was running were the loose leaves and branches that flowed gently downstream. It curved away a little downstream, out of their sight. Looking upstream, it showed the same, curving path, leading out of her sight. The short, straight patch of river that lay in front of them looked as if it was a still body of liquid. It wasn't far across, and Elsa guessed that if she waded in, it would come to her waist before she started coming out again.

"Is it deep?" Elsa asked.

"I don't know, why don't you go find out!" Kristoff said, and with a shove, pushed Elsa into the water.

Elsa hit the water with a splash, sending water everywhere. The stillness of the river was desecrated, ripples being sent in every direction. Kristoff watched in awe as the water around her began to freeze immediately. An icy wave of magic froze the clear liquid, up and downstream. Elsa's head was sticking out of the ice, and Kristoff couldn't help but burst out into laughter. Realizing what she had done, the ice around Elsa disappeared and she was left in a hole, surrounded by the massive glacier she had created. She pushed herself up with her powers, a column of ice lifting her up, and stood upright, hands on hips. She was drenched in water and was dripping onto the ice below her.

"Kristoff, what on earth was that for?" she asked angrily, water dripping from her hair.

"Come on.." he said with a playful smile. "It was just a bit of fun!"

"Well it wasn't fun for me!" Elsa said indignantly.

"Well, that's the point! It's just meant to be a little joke! Didn't you an Ann –" Kristoff stopped talking when he realized what he was about to say and looked down at the floor. "Sorry."

Elsa sighed. "It's okay. No, really. I'm not used to the whole, having friends thing, so if I seem to over react to what you and Anna do, it's because of _that_, not because of you."

Kristoff looked up to look at Elsa. She stood there on the icy river, staring at Kristoff with apologetic eyes. "Sorr-" she started.

"Nope! Don't you even dare say sorry!" Kristoff stated before she could finish. "It's not your fault everything is like it is. The only thing we can do is work on it, hey?"

Elsa's shot him a small grin. _Anna has the best man in the world, I wonder if I'll find someone like him._

Kristoff looked up and down the river. "Now, what do you say about unfreezing this river so we can get some water and head back to camp? I'm hungry, and we've still got that whole deer to finish."

Elsa nodded and went about it. Waving her hands in a graceful arc, the ice around her little platform melted, giving way to the clear water is was a minute ago. Kristoff watched as the ice melted too quickly, speeding away from her. Elsa was left standing on her podium in the middle of a once again liquid river. Taking a step off, the water her foot would have hit froze solid, just before it touched the surface; giving Elsa easy access back to the shore. She gave a wave of her hand and the podium and the icy bridge she had used were erased, dissolving back into the water. They filled the water skins and made back for the camp. As they trudged back through the forest towards the smell of fire, Elsa was silent, so Kristoff mirrored her. _Why do I have to mess everything up? He was just trying to make you smile! You can't even get along with the nicest man you've ever met. How in the world are you going to get on with a stranger in a bar or something?_

Kristoff broke the silence. With a sheepish smile, he turned to look at Elsa "Still friends?"

Elsa nodded. Returning the smile, she said. "Still friends."

With a grin, he put his arm around her shoulder. "There's the spirit!" he said enthusiastically.

_Oh he has his arm on me. What do I do? Do I ask him to remove it? Will that make him mad? If I leave it there Anna might get jealous. Is this what friends do? _Elsa's thoughts were cut off by the sight of the camp, and more specifically Anna sitting next to the fire, trying to get cuts of meat on the spit they had assembled the night before. Kristoff removed his arm. Hearing them crash through the underbrush, she looked up to see them enter the camp, Elsa still sopping wet, Kristoff with a watery arm, both holding water skins in each hand. Spying the skins in their hands, she smiled. She stood up and walked over to the pair to grab one from Kristoff. Gulping it down heartily, she took it away from her lips and wiped them with the back of her hand.

Kristoff laughed. "Well, someone was thirsty!" Taking the skin from her, he could feel that it was near empty. "You're filling this yourself, miss."

"That's okay! I wanted to swim today anyway!" Turning toward Elsa she continued. "Looks like you did too!"

Elsa laughed. "No, I did not. Your fiancé pushed me in!"

Anna shot a look at Kristoff. "You what?"

Elsa interceded before Kristoff could reply. "No it's all okay! We were just playing around. Got to do something to get a smile on my face!"

"I'll put 10 gold pieces on the fact you didn't smile." Anna said, crossing her arms with a smile.

Elsa laughed and Kristoff smiled. Apparently happy with her judgement, Anna went back to preparing their breakfast.

"I heard a bunch of riders go past about 5 minutes ago. I'd guess about 20 of them." Anna said like she was talking about the amount of eggs she had eaten for breakfast.

Kristoff looked towards the road. "Did you see them? What were they wearing?"

"I said I heard them, not saw them!" Anna said.

"Which way were they going?" Elsa asked.

"That way" Anna said, pointing in the direction they were following.

"So they're following the same path as us. 20 riders you say?" Elsa said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Yeah, and they sounded like they were in a hurry." Anna replied flatly.

"Hmm" Elsa looked to Kristoff. "Do you know of anyone who would use this road with that many riders?"

Kristoff looked up, recalling memories. "Not as far as I know, nothing rings any bells. Might be a column of riders from your coronation, just leaving now, but I wouldn't know, sorry."

"That's alright, thankyou." Elsa said, turning away from Kristoff.

Anna looked confused. "Should we be worried about them, Elsa?"

Elsa turned to look at her sister. "Probably not, I just want to stay on my toes, that's all."

"Because you had that guy try to kill you back in Arendalle?" Anna asked.

"Yes. He said something about how "Raloor" will strike me down soon enough, as I threw him into the dungeons. I just want to be careful, if I'm being hunted."

"Raloor?" Kristoff asked. "Who's that?"

"I don't know" Elsa replied. "I just don't want him to be the end of me."

Anna shot a big grin at Elsa. "Don't worry, sister, I won't let anything happen to you!"

Elsa regarded her sister quizzically. "That reminds me, if we get into any trouble, you're going to be completely on your own." She turned to Kristoff. "Kristoff, would you be able to teach Anna some things?"

"Well, we'd need to get her a sword first." Kristoff said, drawing his Valyrian steel dirk out. "I can't very well teach her with this."

"Yes, that's okay. I have some gold, so we'll buy some supplies at the next town." Elsa said, looking at the dark dagger he was playing with. "You'll need to show her how to properly slash, hack and all that kind of thing."

"I've actually always kind of wanted to use a bow." Anna squeaked.

Kristoff and Elsa turned towards her. "A bow?" they said together.

A flush crept into Anna's cheeks, surprised by the sudden attention. "Well, yeah. I wouldn't mind using a dagger either, I'm quick, not strong. According to Margaret, people like me would do good with a dagger or a short sword."

"Margaret?" Elsa said, confused.

"She was a servant who bathed me! She would tell me stories about her sons, and how they were these things called "Hedge Knights" while she gave me baths. Apparently, they were knighted by father, and traveled the land, serving whoever would pay them! When they came home they would tell her about their adventures, and they even taught her how to fight! How cool is that! She was old and she could knock me off of my feet!"

"Ah, Margaret." Elsa said, knowingly. "I remember her now. I never knew she had such a pair of boys."

Anna smiled to herself. "Well she said she only told me because I was so bouncy and outgoing."

Kristoff gave a chuckle. He walked over to where the horses were, who were now awake and eating the green bushes that surrounded them. Sven was still asleep, even though the sun was well risen now. Picking up the bow and a quiver of arrows that they used last night to kill the deer, he walked back over and put the bow in Anna's hands. She turned it around, so she could hold it properly. Pulling the string back, and aiming it at nothing in particular, she smiled, apparently liking the feel of it.

"So when do I get to shoot something?" she asked excitedly.

Kristoff gave another chuckle and handed her an arrow from the quiver.

Pointing at a tree, he said "I'll cook breakfast for you if you hit that tree"

Anna smiled. With the arrow nocked, she pulled back the string and aimed the bow at the tree. The bow was taut with tension as she decided where on the tree she was going to hit. Letting it loose, the arrow sailed well past the tree, shooting on into the forest with a whistle.

Kristoff laughed and Elsa smiled.

"We have a lot of work to do." Kristoff said.


End file.
